Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed 2019-21 biennial operating and capital budgets last week. The proposal provides significant funding for student financial aid and the University of Washington, recognizing critical needs for foundational support, employee wage increases and student resources. The governor’s budgets also invest heavily in the state’s behavioral health system, including a partnership with UW’s health science schools to increase the workforce and expand care. Read more from State Relations.

Members of the Washington state congressional delegation will assume new leadership roles in the next Congress. The Senate Democrats released their committee leadership roster, which includes a new post for Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in the House release its slate of recommendations for most committee chair positions. Read more from Federal Relations.

Public higher education provides the greatest opportunity for prosperity and well-being for individuals and communities, so it must be both affordable and of the highest quality. At the University of Washington, that belief is at the forefront of all we do.

The Washington State 2019 legislative session begins Jan. 14 and is scheduled to last 100 days to consider biennial operating and capital budgets for the state. During session, the Office of State Relations will work with our campus partners to advance the University of Washington’s legislative priorities. Our 2019 legislative agenda focuses on investments that are critical to our ability to provide both access and excellence to students and communities across the state.

To view the University of Washington’s 2019 legislative agenda in its entirety, click here. These priorities have been determined through an extensive process led by the Office of the President and Office of the Provost.

The University of Washington and Washington State University have joined together for a new public-awareness campaign to promote the affordability of higher education in Washington state. The “Yes, It’s Possible,” campaign launched today with a string of joint activities designed to raise awareness of the importance and value of higher education and the higher education opportunities available to students in Washington.

“Students and their families read these headlines about the massive debt load that students are under and the exorbitant cost of getting a bachelor’s degree, and we’re concerned that they might be making decisions based on that when, in fact, our public institutions in the state of Washington are doing a fabulous job of keeping it affordable,” said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. “That’s the notion of, ‘Yes, it’s possible.’ We want them to know that if they want to go to college in our state, in our public universities and community colleges, it is possible for them to go to school and it doesn’t take crippling debt loads.”

Read more from UW News.

The University of Washington has been ranked No. 28 in the world and fourth among U.S. public institutions on the Times Higher Education world rankings for 2019. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. Read more from UW News.